This invention relates to computers in general and to hand held computers in particular.
Computers have long been used to collect, arrange, process and store data. While the potential applications are limitless, the actual use of computers for information management has been limited in certain user environments due to some drawbacks of prior art computers. For example, hand held, portable data recording is desirable for taking store or warehouse inventories, for entering delivery route data, and for performing engineering diagnostics. Users in these environments have largely foregone the benefits of a computer's information management capabilities rather than give up the convenience of portable, hand held clipboards and notebooks to record the gathered information.
Single-handed data entry is another attribute lacking in many prior art computers. Keyboards are not conducive to entry with one hand; writing with pen and paper is certainly faster and more efficient than one-handed typing. Moreover, keyboards add to the size and weight of the computer and therefore work against the goals of hand held size and portability.
The form of one-handed data entry is also a consideration. Field data can, and often must, be recorded by filling in blanks or checking boxes on a preset form. Some data, however, can be adequately recorded only through a written description. To be a replacement for handwritten forms and reports, therefore, the hand held, portable computer must be able to record data on preset forms and through written descriptions. In addition, the user must be able to record the data with one hand.
The use of a computer solely to perform tasks for which paper forms and notebooks were formerly employed can be even more economically advantageous if the computer were useful for other tasks as well without sacrificing the hand held size, portability or the single-handed data entry features. Thus, the computer must be versatile as well as being easy to use.
Conventional desktop personal computers are not portable in that they cannot be used in successive locations without considerable assembly and disassembly between locations. Conventional laptop computers, on the other hand, while portable, require an operating surface. To be truly hand held, the computer must be conveniently held in one hand and operated by the other. Neither desktop nor laptop computers can be used in environments requiring portable, hand held operation.
In addition, there are many hand held calculators on the market. Many of them are programmable and can save limited amounts of data. None, however, is versatile enough in its data processing, data storage or data input capabilities.